


A Little different

by J_M_01



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Blankets, Diapers, Fluff, Found Family, Headspace, Hurt/Comfort, Littles Are Known, Napping, Non-Sexual Age Play, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Not Beta Read, Pacifiers, Spanking, Thumb-sucking, Wetting, Winged Charles | Grian, bottles, sippy cups
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:33:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29397000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_M_01/pseuds/J_M_01
Summary: Somewhere in the tower a bell rings, and the man becomes serious, standing up straighter. ‘’Hermits,’’ He intones deeply, ‘’It is time to make your jump. You have been informed of your fate, now it is time to live it. Step forward and enter the portal one by one to be judged. You shall spawn separately, and discover your new traits privately, before meeting at the start.’’ Before the hermits can protest an invisible force shapes them in a line and then they’re entering the yellow portal once and for all.The last hermit is swallowed by the portal and nothing happens for a few seconds, then the portal warps and collapses. the man swears, calling for the help of the others to restart the portal. they emerge from the shadows and work tirelessly for hours, but the portal will not light again. The hermits, for better or for worse, are now stuck in season 8 for the rest of time. In a world far from their realm, at the moment still unaware of their predicament, every hermit wakes up alone and different than before…
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 45





	1. Introduction and lay-out

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all,  
> I felt like there weren’t enough long, well-written classification fics, so I decided to write my own. I hope you enjoy!  
> Chapters 3-10 will introduce every hermit and their classification in a short story, and chapter 11 will be a full classification list for easy checking. I will also take prompts in the comments of this chapter, but no others to keep it all in 1 place :D
> 
> And with that I think I’m done, I hope you enjoy this story!

Hey all,

I felt like there weren’t enough long, well-written classification fics, so I decided to write my own. I hope you enjoy! Since ‘Littles Are Known’ isn’t an actual tag (yet!) on AO3, I’ve decided to tag this work with ‘non-sexual age play’ and ‘age-regression/de-aging’. This fic does not have ANY sexual content, because romanticising 3 year olds is just incredibly wrong. Having said that, below is a list of what will and won’t be in this fic. If you do not agree with any of my choices please feel free to click off now, before we get to the actual content. I won’t get into debates in the comments and any hate comments will just get deleted.

Chapters 3-10 will introduce every* hermit and their classification in a short story, and chapter 11 will be a full classification list for easy checking. I will also take prompts in the comments of this chapter, but no others to keep it all in 1 place :D. If I don’t get any prompts for a while I’ll still write a story for that week, using my own imagination. Every story I write is in an AU-world and everything takes place in a fictional season 8.   
**PLEASE DO NOT SHIP REAL PEOPLE, THIS IS MC CHARACTERS ONLY.**

This fic **WILL** contain:

  * Spanking as punishment (no more smacks than the person is old and always with hand only -> a 2 y.o. gets 2 smacks, 9 y.o. gets 9)
  * People wetting themselves in- and outside of headspace
  * People messing themselves in headspace



This fic **WILL NOT** contain:

  * Sex
  * Breastfeeding
  * Verbal, physical or mental abuse



*I have left out IJevin, xBCrafted, Hypnotizd and TFC, because I can’t write them at all T_T.

MY UPLOAD SCHEDULE:

Every Sunday at 9pm CET/ 7pm UTC/ 3pm EST  
Wednesday at 9pm CET/ 7pm UTC/ 3pm EST if my schedule allows.

And with that I think I’m done, I hope you enjoy this story!


	2. 1. starting again

They’d known each other for a few seasons now, jumping from world to world seamlessly together with each new update. Somehow, season 8 was different. When the hermits had jumped through the giant button 2.0 portal in the shopping district they hadn’t landed on an island, surrounded by trees as usual. Instead, they’d been in some sort of other realm, with a purple sky and yellow grass, in front of a truly massive tower. Xisuma and Grian both pale at their surroundings, looking frantically for a way out as the other hermits look around confusedly. They are stopped in their tracks by a deep voice, which draws both their and every other hermit’s attention back to the tower.

There’s a literal giant standing in the door opening, At least 9 feet tall, with purple eyes and a glowing set of wings. The giant beckons them forward with a single crooked finger, and seemingly against their will everybody starts walking. There are worried glances at both the giant and each other, before they enter the tower and are blinded by millions of portals. When they are able to open their eyes again they are sitting in what looks to be a classroom, with the giant at the front of the room.

‘’Welcome, hermits. My name is Xiran and I am the watcher for season 8 of hermitcraft.’’ The giant -now named Xiran- tells them. He looks around to see if his announcement sparks any recognition, but 18 confused hermits look back at him. The 2 men in the back who had already known where they were do twitch at his name, but he will worry about them later. For now, it is time to explain his purpose and goals to all of them. ‘’As you may have noticed,’’ he starts. ‘’this is not what normally happens when you jump worlds, but your server has been selected to trial run a newly created portal. Isn’t that exciting?’’ The hermits look back at him with apprehension, picking up the mood from their admin and friend. One particularly brave hermit raises his hand to ask a question. He’s one of the shorter ones in the bunch, but still has a respectable beard and what looks to be a mechanical eye.

‘’Excuse me Mr. Watcher, but why us? And what does that mean, new portal? What does it do?’’ The man asks, and several hermits nod in curiosity. Xiran chuckles at their naivety, they have no idea what’s in store for them. Still, no sense dragging things out, the new world really does need to get started. ‘’Well Iskall,’’ Xiran ignores the stares at knowing his name without an introduction. ‘’we decided upon your server because it had a perfect amount of people in it for the portal to work. A new portal is exactly what it sounds like, it’s a portal that does something new, as for what? Well, let me show you.’’ Xiran claps his hands together and everyone is suddenly standing again. With a smirk he starts walking to the door, knowing that the hermits will have no choice but to follow him. After another bit of teleportation magic they’re all once again in the portal room, standing in front of portal HCBBS, which swirls a soft yellow instead of the normal purple. If someone were to listen closely they’d hear not the usual ghast shrieks, but instead the crying of a young child. Xiran turns around to face the hermits again, ignoring their dizzy looks from the sudden teleportation.

‘’This,’’ he begins dramatically, ‘’is the HCBBS portal. It appeared in our portal room one day and we saw it link up to your server. We sent some of our more experienced watchers through this end to explore what the portal does, and the results were interesting, to say the least. Players in this world are spawned with some added character traits that define them as someone who protects or someone who should be protected. You won’t know which you are until your first spawn. Any questions?’’ he looks at the raised hands before picking one out.

‘’What do these character traits mean besides the general overview?’’ asks the man in the red sweater. Xiran grins, this one knew the way the of the watchers, never giving out a full answer on the first go. ‘’They mean that you can become a child aged anywhere from a 1 year old to a 14 year old, or a parent.’’ He reveals with mirth. There is an immediate uproar of voices, with multiple refusals shouted even louder. After a short while there is a sharp whistle, and their admin walks forward resignedly. ‘’Can others tell which one you are?’’ He asks Xiran. The answer of ‘’It is not immediately visible, but very difficult to hide.’’ isn’t received very well. Voices try to raise again, but one withering glare over the admin’s shoulder quiets everyone down again. ‘’Can I change which one I am?’’ a lone voice pipes up from the crowd. This one is trickier to answer, because while _some_ people can do so, not every person has the ability. Xiran eventually settles for a cryptic ‘’You will see.’’ And leaves it at that.

Somewhere in the tower a bell rings, and Xiran becomes serious, standing up straighter. ‘’Hermits,’’ He intones deeply, ‘’It is time to make your jump. You have been informed of your fate, now it is time to live it. Step forward and enter the portal one by one to be judged. You shall spawn separately, and discover your new traits privately, before meeting at the start.’’ Before the hermits can protest an invisible force shapes them in a line and then they’re entering the yellow portal once and for all. As the last hermit is swallowed by the portal nothing happens for a few seconds, then it warps and collapses. Xiran swears, calling for the help of other watchers to restart the portal. 7 watchers emerge from the shadows and they work tirelessly for hours, but the portal will not light again. The hermits, for better or for worse, are now stuck in season 8 for the rest of time. In a world far from the watcher realm, at the moment still unaware of their predicament, every hermit wakes up alone and different than before...


	3. 2. hello season 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey all,  
> bit of a short one today, this wasn't even supposed to be a chapter XD. the story didn't really flow without so here we are. also, y'all can comment on every chapter, but i'll only take prompts in chapter 11. and with that, I hope you enjoy!

With a flash they land on the floor of what looks to be a playroom/nursery. The walls are covered by changing tables and cabinets full of what look to be diapers and other clothes. One corner is full of stuffed animals and other soft toys, while another is filled with things like race cars, dolls, blocks and board games. There are a few cribs and highchairs dotted around the room too, each a different colour and pattern. There’s a small side room with a closed door, simply labelled ‘the naughty room’, across from which are several bathrooms. In the middle of the room on a soft rug, the hermits are slowly pulling themselves together after their judgement ceremony.

Grian is being pulled from the floor by Mumbo and Iskall, looking pretty dazed. The other 2 don’t look much better, all of them have red eyes and Xisuma shares a glance with Stress before she heads over to help. Etho and Beef are standing in a corner, looking over the unfolding chaos with smiles, although Etho’s looks more like a grimace. Bdubs and Keralis are clinging to each other, whispering furiously before stopping abruptly when Doc joins them. Cleo and Joe look remarkably well put together compared to everyone else and are joking with False and Wels. Scar has just been helped off of the floor by Cub, while Ren is surrounded by Impulse, Zed and Tango, all talking about some weird redstone contraption from last season.

Xisuma let’s out a loud whistle to grab everyone’s attention, making a mental note of the hermits that react badly to the sudden noise. He notices that he gets impressions of everyone’s new classification when he looks at them, which is very relieving since it means he can keep the hermits safe, even from themselves. While Xisuma is contemplating his new skill, the others have quietened down and are now looking at him. Shaking himself out of his mind, Xisuma steps on a little chair and begins to speak.

‘’Okay hermits, since we’re now stuck in this world for at least a little while, I think we should set some ground rules like we do every season. First off; no griefing other bases like always, try to help each other out, you all know the drill. Considering our new situation, I feel like you should all know that I can tell what class you fall in.’’ Xisuma looks around piercingly before continuing.

’’So, new rule number 1, you need to be in your headspace at least 1 day a week, but preferably 3 or 4 days. If you don’t you can get very ill, which we definitely don’t want to happen. Rule 2, no lying to each other. I know we don’t do that a lot anyways, but it is now completely forbidden. Rule 3, using and doing what your headspace needs -like pull-ups, pacifiers and naps- is strongly recommended to make yourself more comfortable. Rule 4, if you are in headspace you need to inform a caregiving server mate who can then take care of you. You may have noticed the ‘naughty room’ over there, if you break any of the rules that is where a _caregiver_ will punish you. This can be anything from corner time to spankings, no arguments.’’

Some of the hermits look like they do want to argue the fairness of these rules, but none are ready to test Xisuma’s patience when the rules are still fresh. With a final nod Xisuma steps off his little chair, going over to a nearby crafting table to write a rules book for every hermit. After those are all handed out the hermits are free to leave, which they do gladly to start working on their respective starter bases. Xisuma is the last to leave and stops to admire the new world like the other hermits had before him. This season was going to be very different than normal, but maybe even for the better. God knows some of them need a bit more guidance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> schneaky schneaky end note.  
> I will be adding fan-art/builds that are inspired by these chapters when I finish them, so check back frequently for updates!


	4. 3. Thumb-sucking (SCAR&CUB)

SCAR POV:

I had woken up in a desert of all biomes, surrounded by cacti and dead bushes and an ocean of sand. At first I didn’t notice any of the changes that Xiran had talked about, but slowly my brain picked out some differences; like the fact that I was now a good few pixels shorter than I used to be. I looked around me for any other players, but didn’t see anyone. This was extremely upsetting to me for some reason and my eyes started watering. ‘ _where is everyone?!’_ I thought to myself just as I lost control of my bladder, which really made me start bawling.

I walked away from the wet sand on unsteady legs, looking for someone who could help me out of my now icky clothes. None of the hermits were around, but I did find a really fluffy bunny in an abandoned village. The bunny was very cuddly and even hopped along as I kept on walking. As I walked my thumb slid in to my mouth unconsciously and I continued sucking it until I noticed what I was doing. Just as I realised what was happening I felt a weird tug in my stomach and suddenly I‘m in the middle of a group other hermits. Luckily my clothes were dry again -somehow-, but I still had tears running down my face, which I quickly wiped away. I looked for my bunny, hoping it had teleported with me, but it wasn’t here.

‘’Scar, you okay bud?’’ someone asked me before I could get too upset at the loss of my bunny. I looked up to see Cub holding his hand out to me, was he always so big? He pulled me to my feet as I looked at our new world spawn, which looked like a… playroom? Strange, usually spawn would just be a little patch of dirt, but everything is different in this world so I guess this would be too. I nod my head to answer Cub, who has been looking at me in concern after noticing my probably still red eyes. Around the room hermits are helping each other up from where they have landed, some looking worse than others.

My eyes are drawn to Xisuma, who had just let out the same piercing whistle as he had in the watcher realm. I flinch at the loud noise, but resist the urge to let out a whimper and cover my ears like I want to. When everyone is looking at him quietly Xisuma begins to talk. I don’t really like the sound of all his rules, or the fact that he apparently knows everyone’s classification because of his admin powers. The thing that makes me and several other hermits blanch is the idea that our server mates are now allowed to punish us if they think we deserve it! _‘That is so incredibly unfair!’_ I think to myself, a thought I’m sure is echoing through more heads than mine. Xisuma creates a list of rules for every age we can be and hangs it in an item frame in the spawn room, before handing out copies to all of us too.

After Xisuma is done talking we’re all allowed to head out and begin our starter bases. I exit spawn and am immediately shocked again, this world is so much larger and way more colourful than our previous worlds! I run to a beautiful new tree and chop it down and it gives me nice red planks, I didn’t know they were added to this update! I make a quick starter house with the new wood planks, deciding to make my first project a giant plant garden as I’m building my cherry. While I’m placing the planks my thumb slips into my mouth again without me noticing and I almost bite the tip of it off when I hear a voice behind me…

CUB P.O.V.

I woke up on top of a pretty large hill in a gravel biome, completely alone. The only thing around was a rabbit jumping happily towards me. As soon as I saw it, the need to protect welled up inside me, wanting to give it food and shelter and a very nice rabbit pen. Once that thought had passed through my mind I started to notice other things, like the fact that I had grown at least 4 pixels and that my beard was no longer grey. I looked not a day over thirty again, just with more muscle and taller. Deciding I needed to try and find the other hermits I set off towards 0;0, hoping to walk into someone on the way there.

The rabbit I’d noticed when I first landed followed, hopping a pace or two behind me. While walking I started thinking about what had happened before we landed here. Of course I had heard stories of the watchers, but those were supposed to just be myths, told to scare kids into behaving. Having now met with one, I could see why they would seem scary to younger people. I was an adult however, and I would not be phased by tall men in long cloaks. I would probably need to console some of the other hermits after their scary visit though, since I _was_ the adult now. As my eyes widened in sudden realisation I felt myself being teleported again, and the world briefly goes black.

‘Waking up’ was a bit of a shock, as I was suddenly leaning against a wall staring out over the chaos that is the hermits. My eyes focus on Scar, who is looking around -confused and crying- for something. I make my way over as he tries to wipe his tears away, not noticing the smears of mud that replace them. I soften my voice, not wanting to startle him as I see his lower lip tremble. He takes my hand and I pull him up, noticing how short he now is compared to me. Scar looks around to avoid my eyes, giving a short nod when I ask if he’s okay. I do the same, vowing to myself to speak with scar as soon as possible, just as Xisuma calls for our attention.

As I listen I take mental notes of everything Xisuma is saying. Rules seem like a good call to me, especially for the older kids who could be a bit more of a handful. The health problem concerns me a little, since I don’t want any of my friends to get sick. If they do they can always call me though, I’ll help them get better in no time. I also completely agree with X that caregivers should be able to punish littles for breaking rules, knowing how stubborn some of these hermits can be. The fact that he knows everyone’s classification is a relief, I’ll be able to discuss my suspicions about Scar and also make sure X will check on everyone sometimes. After I’m handed a copy of the rules I’m allowed to leave, hanging back a bit to try and catch Xisuma alone.

Outside the world seems different to before, with new colours of grass, trees and ores. I decide to explore more after I’ve had a chat with X, who I see is leaving spawn now. I walk over, calling out a quick ‘’Hey X, wait up!’’ as I see him start to leave. He does, turning around in confusion of who could possibly have a problem so early. I stop next to him and we smile at each other in greeting before I get to the point. I hope Xisuma will help me, I don’t want to invade anyone’s privacy but I also don’t want Scar to get hurt.

‘’X, is Scar a little? I think I’m a caregiver and he’s just setting off _so many_ bells for me. I don’t want to invade his privacy or anything but you know me and Scar are mates and I wouldn’t want him to get hurt all alone somewhere If I can help it.’’ I ramble for a bit as Xisuma stares at me in amusement. I click my mouth shut when he starts to chuckle, realising how ridiculous I sound. X stares at me for a bit before clearing his throat, ‘’Yes Cub, Scar is a little. Very young too at about 3, give or take a year. He spawned as a 2 year old, every respawn starts you off at your youngest if you’re a little or switch, that’s why the spawn room looks like a nursery.’’

Even though I suspected it, hearing it so clearly made me even more anxious to go find Scar, but I also had questions about my own situation that I needed answered. The most important one being why I was suddenly so much younger again, which X told me was because I needed the strength to be able to carry heavy things. The height difference was to differentiate between littles and caregivers and to make it easier to get into headspace. With those worries at least partially answered for now I could no longer hold off on finding Scar, So I bade Xisuma goodbye and headed to where I had seen him go. I found him not far from spawn, busy building a red… thing with some of the new planks in his right hand and the thumb of his left firmly placed in his mouth. ‘’Hey buddy, how ya feelin’ right now?’’ I asked him.

3RD PERSON P.O.V.

Scar jumps back from where he’s been building his cherry, losing his footing on the scaffolding. With a yelp he falls to the floor, where he looks around and promptly burst into tears at the sight of Cub, who rushes forward in a panic. ‘’Oh bud, did that scare you, how many hearts did you lose?’’ He asks softly, picking Scar up to hold in his arms properly. Scar latches on instinctively, muffling his sobs in Cub’s shoulder with a little hiccup. Cub looks around for something to soothe him with, eventually settling for the blanket of a nearby bed. Scar clutches it gratefully, nuzzling closer to Cub with a yawn and dropping off just a bit later.

While rubbing Scar’s back -something he had started doing unconsciously- Cub starts to think of what he will need to care for the smaller hermit. Definitely a crib, if Scar was indeed as small as Xisuma said. Probably diapers and pull-ups too, along with a changing table and baby wipes and powder. They’d need to start a sheep farm to make some fitting clothes and a cow farm too for milk and leather. First off though, getting Scar changed and crafting a crib, probably with these red planks he seems to like so much.

Putting Scar down on the normal bed for now Cub gathers the cherry planks and some wool from a sheep that is close by, using the new crafting recipes to make a crib and changing table. Deciding that that isn’t enough, He gathers some more materials and also crafts a nice highchair and a toy chest, before starting work on the animal pens. It’s while he’s doing this that Scar stumbles out of the cherry, blushing violently when he sees that Cub is still there. Cub smiles back softly, beckoning Scar to join him where he is leading two more sheep into their enclosure.

‘’Hey little one, feeling okay after your nap?’’ Cub asks happily, opening his arms to pick Scar up again. He looks confused when Scar doesn’t come to him, staying out of reach and looking embarrassedly at the ground. ‘’Cub, I’m not little right now, I’m just normal me.’’ He mumbles to the ground. Cub nods to himself, putting the sheep away and walking up to Scar to guide him back inside the base. There is a little resistance at first, but a hand on his back guides Scar firmly through the door and back into the newly decorated living room.

‘’Okay Scar,’’ Cub begins after they’re sitting down, ‘’First off, in this new world you being little _is_ normal, so no more distinguishing between little and big like that, please. Second, there is nothing to be ashamed of being a little, it just means you need some extra care sometimes. Which leads nicely into my next point, would you like me to be your primary caregiver? Because I would like to be, if you want me to.’’ Scar looks a bit shocked at what Cub has said, before cautiously beginning to speak.

“I can’t promise that, because to me it doesn’t feel normal yet, but I will try. And if I absolutely _need_ a caregiver’’ here Scar looks up a bit pleadingly, but Cub’s face doesn’t twitch, ‘’then yes, I would like for you to be my caregiver as much as possible, Cub.’’ Cub let’s out a sigh of relief, not having wanted to force him, but also not comfortable at the thought of Scar being all alone when he can be so young. ‘’Okay, that’s great. We should probably discuss what we’re comfortable with and what we both need regardless of that.’’ Scar looks a bit uncomfortable at the idea of more rules, but does nod his head in agreement to the idea.

Cub starts first; ‘’So, let’s start with Xisuma’s rules. I completely agree with all of them, though I will ask you be in headspace at least 3 days instead of just once a week. Naps and the necessary protection like diapers are some things I will enforce, because they are for your own wellbeing. As for punishment, I prefer time-outs, but you can earn a spanking if you lie to me about your own health, because I take that very seriously. Lastly, you’re allowed to build your own base still, but if you go into headspace you need to ping me or another caregiver on the comms, okay? I’ll build close to you so I should almost always be available. I think that’s it, what about you?’’ Cub asks after his announcement.

Scar stares for a bit before replying, ‘’Wow Cub, that’s… a lot. Can I ask that it only be 2 days? Being big during the week and little on the weekends or something? I do have some pretty big plans for this world, and I would still like to make them.’’ Cub nods his head in agreement, that’s fair. ‘’Also, I don’t need diapers, I think I can deal with pull-up’s though. I’m definitely not thrilled about the spanking thing, can’t we just scrap that? And I’m fine with alerting others if I can, but I don’t know how well I can do that when in headspace so I can’t promise anything. Is that okay?’’

Cub considers it while Scar waits anxiously, He really hopes to get rid of that whole punishment thing! ‘’I’ll give you pull-ups to start, but if things don’t work out I reserve the right to switch you to diapers. The spanking is non-negotiable, if you don’t like it then don’t endanger your health, it’s that simple. How about I message you a few times a day to check in on you and your headspace, would that work?’’ Scar frowns, but ultimately agrees to the new rules. Since it’s now pretty late Cub heads off to start his own base and give scar some time to get used to their new arrangement.


	5. Sorry, no update

Sorry guys, while I do have the entire story planned out I couldn't finish the next chapter on time. My laptop broke and writing on my phone is tricky because I need 3 word documents at the same time.

My mental health is also not great (go quarantine and a bad home life) and this month has been worse than normal. I know it sounds cliché but it is the truth.

I'm hoping to post the missing chapter this wednesday, and perhaps a double release next sunday, but I make no promises. I kept saying requests would be allowed after chapter 11, but I'm changing that to: chapter:requests, so I can still add author's notes in between chapters without confusion.

Hope you're all staying safe and sane out there, again sorry for no update, and hopefully see you wednesday!

J.


	6. 4. punishments and presents (GRIAN&MUMBO&STRESS&ISKALL)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long wait guys! my laptop is working again, even though I now only have half a working screen XD. a couple of things; I've added (really terrible) fanart to some of the previous chapters, don't miss it! also, I've decided to give my Grian wings, hope you don't mind. While this chapter has 4 characters it mainly focusses on Grian and how the others react to him, this is because I needed to write it like this for later chapters. Sorry if you're not a fan!  
> to make it up to you for my giant hiatus this is an extra long chapter :-).

GRIAN P.O.V.

_‘Oh god, oh no, why are the watchers back?! I thought I had escaped them back in season 6?’_ was the first thought flashing through my mind as I spawned in. I had known Xiran before hermitcraft, he used to be my tutor before I ran away. They weren’t cruel to me when I lived with them, but I never fit in well enough to truly be accepted, so I decided to return to a server with other normal players. Sadly, once a watcher means always a watcher, meaning they could still sense me like I could sense them. I hadn’t been contacted before this event though, giving me hope they had just forgotten about me.

I looked around, for the first time really taking in all the things that had changed around me. I was shorter and skinnier than before, though not by much. Surrounding me were mountains, their peaks taller than the clouds floating lazily through the sky. I felt the sudden urge to jump from the ledge I was sitting on, spreading my wings to go and do some tricks. Deciding this would actually help me get down faster than walking I stood up, took a few steps back to get some distance and then jumped off with a joyful whoop.

I know X had warned me not to do this in case something went wrong, but with a giggle I thought to myself; _‘X isn’t here to scold me, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him’._ For some reason I decided to stick out my tongue in a ‘So there’ gesture as I fell, even though I knew Xisuma couldn’t see me. Seeing that I had fallen several blocks by now I flexed my wings to catch some air, but with a yelp I retracted them, that had **hurt**! Looking over my shoulder I didn’t see my pristine feather coat like normal, instead my wings looked like they did when I first got them. Knowing I would never be able to keep myself in the air with my wings like this I screamed in fear, waiting for the painful landing and respawn with my eyes closed.

When I didn’t hit the ground after a few seconds I opened my eyes, confused why I wasn’t a Grian pancake yet. I was quite surprised to see purple magic surrounding me, gently lowering me towards… oh. Even behind the hood I could make out the purple eyes of Xiran staring at me disapprovingly, causing a sinking feeling in my stomach. I squirmed uncomfortably as I was put down, remembering a very similar situation from my first time in the watcher realm. Deciding to act innocent I shoot a happy smile at Xiran, hoping that if I act cute enough I will be forgiven.

_'Apparently not’_ I think to myself as his frown becomes more pronounced. ‘’Xervan, I know that you know you should always check your wings before flight, so care to tell me why I got an alert of you freefalling just now? I’m sure you didn’t break that rule again after what happened last time, hmm?’’ I pout at his tone, knowing that Xiran will sense it if I lie. He takes a step towards me but freezes as I shout ‘’NO!’’ and turn to try and run. I make it maybe 3 blocks before Xiran’s purple magic is again surrounding me, dragging me slowly to stand in front of him even as I chant ‘’no no no no nooo…’’ sadly.

He grabs my arm when I am within reach, the magic dissipating slowly as my eyes are guided towards his. I try my puppy dog eyes, stomping my foot in frustration when even that doesn’t change the stern look directed my way. ‘’Xervan,’’ I flinch at the warning tone, ‘’you are being very naughty right now. Did you try to fly when you shouldn’t, yes or no?’’ my eyes tear up, I don’t want to answer! Still, after Xiran shakes my shoulder I begrudgingly mumble a soft ‘yes’. This is apparently the only answer required, because without further ado I am turned sideways and given three hard swats on my bum. Even knowing it was coming I still yelped, before bursting into tears.

‘’You are a little boy Xervan, and little boys don’t fly without supervision. They also don’t throw tantrums or try to run away from their well-deserved punishments. 5 minutes with your nose to the cliff and then I’ll teleport you to your new friends, go on.’’ I sniffle as I’m guided to the rock face, rubbing at my bum while I’m still allowed to. The 5 minutes feel like an eternity with Xiran staring into my back, but eventually I’m done with corner time and called back to Xiran’s side to be teleported to spawn. My eyes are still red from crying, something I hope won’t be too noticeable to the other hermits.

I land on my bum, letting out a yip at the renewed stinging before looking around. Most other hermits are here already, causing me to look for my two best friends; Mumbo and Iskall. They’re both on the floor not too far from me, hurrying over to help me up when they see how out of it I am. It looks like they have both been crying and I’m guessing I don’t look much better, if the way Stress _(where did she come from?)_ fusses over us is any indication. None of them notice anything strange, for which I am grateful, since I feel incredibly self-conscious about what had just happened.

Xisuma calls for our attention before I can spiral too deep into my own thoughts, So I turn my head to listen to what he has to say. The no-lying rule will make pranking a bit difficult and I’m definitely not looking forward to calling another hermit to care for me, but the thing that really makes me blanch is the last rule. I unconsciously rub my bottom with a grimace, not noticing Iskall nudge Mumbo to look in my direction. I completely miss their matching frowns as I hastily leave spawn, just like I miss Stress’s speculative glance at all three of us. All I can think about is not doing anything to earn more punishments.

MUMBO P.O.V.

_‘Surrounded by massive spruce trees and I wake up on a patch of podzol’_ I thought to myself when I looked around. Waking up surrounded by coarse dirt, twigs and leaves hadn’t been fun, nor the scratches that came with all the prickly berry bushes. Seeing the spots of blood made me want to tear up, but the more rational part of me told me I was being ridiculous. Still, I sniffled a bit as I walked away from my little clearing, on the verge of being overwhelmed by how far away spawn was. I was at least 10.000 blocks out from 0;0 and my hunger bar was already going down.

I hadn’t really noticed anything different personally so far, except maybe being a bit more emotional than normal. That all changed when I saw a fox walking towards me, not acting afraid like normal. I dropped to my knees, trying to coax the fox closer to me with soft noises and not caring anymore about the scratches that littered my lower legs. The fox calmly walked up to me, tilting its head to the left curiously when I reached out to pet it, before gently nipping at my fingers. I scratched it behind its ears, before standing up to continue my journey to spawn. The fox followed me closely, occasionally barking at a rabbit that crossed our path.

As I walked my mind turned to my friends, wondering where they were and what they were going through right now. My fox yipped to get me out of my thoughts and I bent down to give it some more attention, since I had ignored it for at least the last 300 blocks now. I reached out to scratch behind its ears some more, only to fall back with a little scream when it bit me and then disappeared into the underbrush. Looking at my hand I couldn’t stop myself from beginning to cry in shock, why did it do that?! ‘ _I didn’t hurt it did I?_ ’ I thought to myself worried both about the fox and my hurting hand. With a small sob I looked around for someone to help me, but I was all alone. Just as I thought of seeing my friends again I saw a flash and then darkness.

The first thing I noticed when I ‘woke up’ again was that my hand no longer hurt. The second thing I noticed was that Iskall seemed to have landed beside me in this room at exactly the same time. The third thing I noticed was a soft yelp to my left, where Grian had just landed and was looking around owlishly. Deciding to help my friends I first pulled up Iskall, before heading over together to get Grian upright too. From behind Grian I see X and Stress share a glance and I knew the three of us must look a sight for sore eyes.

Stress heads over to us and I feel relieved at the idea of another grown-up here to help, even if I wasn’t too sure I was a grown-up myself. She wipes the tears from Grian’s cheeks first, before ruffling Iskall’s hair to get him to smile and eventually slinging an arm around my shoulders with an ‘’Ello, luvs’’. Since when is Stress taller than me? Before I can ask there’s a sharp whistle at the front of the room and with a wince I turn to the sound. Xisuma is standing on a small stool asking for everyone’s attention, so we all settle down to listen to what he has to say.

Knowing that X knows everyone’s classification is a relief, he’ll be able to tell me what I am, since I don’t have a clue myself. I don’t really have an opinion about the rules Xisuma lays out, since they all seem reasonable to me and I don’t plan on getting in trouble all that often anyways. There’s a sharp jab in my ribs and I look to my right, where Iskall is trying to signal me to look at Grian. When I do I’m immediately worried, Grian is incredibly pale and is rubbing his behind with a scowl on his face. Iskall and I share concerned looks, did Grian already get himself in trouble? With who?! Deciding to investigate later I tuned back into the room at large, where X was now handing out books before people left.

Grian left as soon as he had his own rulebook, almost running to get away from spawn. Iskall and I shared another look before he too left with his book, while I stayed behind to talk with Xisuma. I noticed Stress glancing from me to the door before she stepped out, running to catch up with Iskall from what I could see. Since I was now alone with X I decided to explain my situation and see if he could help me understand everything better. After hearing me out X looked at me for a moment in concentration, before he said; ‘’You’re a switch, but you’re more likely to go little than stay big from what I can see. Can’t really pin your age, but you feel young, maybe 4 or so.’’

Oh, well that was surprising. I had expected to just be an older little, maybe 13 or 14 and therefore more independent. I asked some more questions, mostly about if the rules would change for me and how I would respawn, adult or little. The answers to those questions were ‘no’ and ‘as a little’, which I wasn’t thrilled about but I could still live with. Deciding that I could always ask more questions later I headed out, passing by Cub who was apparently also waiting on X. Now to find out where Iskall, Stress and Grian had gone and what their experience had been like. I decided to turn right for now, since that was the way I had seen Stress go last.

STRESS P.O.V.

I woke up with the sweet smell of hundreds of flowers, which wasn’t all that strange since I had spawned in a patch of tulips. Standing up properly I stumbled a bit, I had apparently grown a bit since my time in the watcher realm. This new centre of balance would take some getting used to, especially if I had to carry my server mates around when they were small, too. ‘ _Now where did that idea come from_?’ I thought to myself as I walked away from the flower field and to a nearby lake to get some water.

As I looked into the clear blue water and to the sandy bottom I started to feel very fuzzy, my vision whiting in and out with flashes of images in between. I saw Grian stomping his foot in anger, Scar falling off of a stack of scaffolding, Wels shouting something to someone and even Xisuma lecturing multiple people. More thing flashed past my closed eyes, too quick to make out what or who they were. Just as I started getting a headache from the rapidly changing scenes everything stopped and I was once again looking into the clear water of the lake, which to my surprise wasn’t empty anymore.

A single tropical fish was staring at me with such intensity that it nearly made me cringe back, though I did not know why. I frowned, looking around me for some iron to make a bucket; this fish should be in the nearby ocean, not in this lake all alone. If I had some wheat I could make some bread to feed it too, but sadly there wasn’t a village nearby. Looking into my inventory I was surprised to find a bucket of water in the first slot, _I_ hadn’t made that! Still, better not look a gift horse in the mouth, so I scooped up the fish and headed off to the ocean.

When I arrived at the shoreline the fish stated getting restless, wiggling so much that I almost spilled the bucket over the sand. ‘’Hey, settle down before you accidentally hurt yourself!’’ I scolded, before realising I was talking to a fish. Crouching down, I carefully tipped the bucket sideways so the fish could swim out whenever it wanted, which it did pretty quickly. It did not yet swim off however, instead turning around and spraying me in the face with water! I closed my eyes out of reflex and felt a yank in my stomach at the same time.

‘’Stress, are you feeling okay?’’ My shoulder gets shaken by Xisuma, who is looking at me in concern. I look around me confused, how did I get here with the other hermits? Well, no matter, I need to ask X about the weird flashes I had and what they mean. We chat for a while as around us more and more hermits appear, but eventually my eyes are dragged behind Xisuma’s back to ‘the architechs’; Grian, Mumbo and Iskall. They’re all red-eyed and shaky and my newfound instincts demand I go over to comfort them, So I excuse myself and head to their little corner.

Grian looks the worst out of the three so I head over to him first, wiping away the tears that are still falling from his eyes. As we touch I get another brief flash, this time of him plummeting and being caught in purple magic. I give him a worried look but head over to the other two, since they also need some TLC. I go to ruffle Iskall’s hair, grimacing at the water drops I can see dripping from the ends. Again a flicker, Iskall laying in some shallow water with tears streaming down his face. Then a sideways hug for Mumbo, who looks the best out of the three of them. Even though I now expect it, the vision of a fox viciously biting him still startles me and I throw a concerned look at his hand, which seems to be healed up again.

Xisuma calls for our attention before I can start asking questions and I feel Mumbo flinch under my arm at the piercing sound. I turn my head to the front of the room, settling in to listen while also throwing a stern glance at Iskall who is just looking around the room. Near the end of the speech I feel Mumbo start to move, craning his neck to see past Iskall and to Grian, who is starting to look pretty ill. They share concerned glances, not noticing they aren’t nearly as secretive as they think they are and I decide there and then that I’ll be keeping an eye on them for now.

My littlest charge practically sprints to X and then out the door, not waiting for the others like normal. I see Iskall frown as he also grabs a book and heads off after Grian, sharing another look with Mumbo before he closes the door. I head over to Xisuma myself, thinking that I should probably follow after the two for now to make certain everything was okay. I throw a final look at Mumbo -who is waiting behind, probably to talk to X privately- and head out the door myself.

Iskall is not too far in front of me and after a short jog I’m caught up, slowing down to walk next to him. We talk about our respective spawns for a while, him seeming really interested in my flower field while I can only barely stop myself from worrying about his spawn. What were those watchers thinking putting a boy in that kind of environment! Before long we’re joined by an out of breath Mumbo, who had probably sprinted from spawn to here. The three of us continue to walk, keeping half an eye on Grian who had now stopped walking and begun gathering resources.

We all say hi when we get to where he has started building, but only receive an uncharacteristically short reply in the form of a muttered ‘hey’. I look to the others, thinking that they perhaps know why Grian is so sullen, but they look back at me just as confused as I feel. I wondered if the fragments I had seen could have something to do with it, so I decided to try and question him about them. At the same time Iskall opened his mouth to also ask a question, while Mumbo took a step forwards to lay a hand on Grian’s back.

ISKALL P.O.V.

I woke up soaking wet, in a 1 block deep puddle of muddy water. I was in a swamp? Awesome! I giggled loudly, stomping in as many puddles as I could find, not caring that my clothes got even wetter and colder. This was so much fun, all the hermits should do it together! Looking around for the first time I noticed that I was all alone, but it didn’t bother me too much. I’m sure one of the other hermits would come for me soon enough and until then I could just keep playing by myself. That being decided I returned to jumping in my puddles, not noticing the house in the distance.

The sun was considerable closer to the ground when I looked around me again, thinking I had heard something. I was getting kind of scared now, my hunger was down by half without me noticing and I was getting really cold. Twisting around to see what I had heard, my eyes widened when I saw a witch stalking closer to me, cackling under her breath. I couldn’t run on the uneven terrain and I had apparently shrunken because I couldn’t overpower her by size alone like normal. Now I _really_ wished another hermit was here to help me, but apparently I was all alone for this one.

The witch was 2 blocks away from me when I attacked, hitting her with my fists to hopefully do some damage. She retreated to drink her own health potion, splashing me with an unknown potion in the meantime. My limbs immediately felt heavy and I sank to my knees, no longer able to support myself or even move at all. This scared me enough that I finally started crying in defeat, again wishing for some help. The witch had healed up enough during my paralysation to launch another attack and I cried harder realising I would have to die and respawn to escape. With two hearts left my vision went dark as I waited for my death message to pop up.

Only to realise that I was no longer being attacked, in fact I wasn’t even in a swamp anymore. I was sitting on a nice soft area rug, miraculously clean and healed back up again. All around me other hermits were picking themselves off the floor, closest of all my friend Mumbo. He was looking at his left hand in confusion, before looking up and coming over to help me off the floor. I noticed with worry that he had been crying, before realising I probably didn’t look any better with my red eyes and damp hair. Mumbo pulled me along with him and together we picked up Grian, before retreating to a relatively quiet corner.

It didn’t take long for Stress to join us, gently ruffling my hair with a smile that turned into a slight frown as she felt how wet it still was. She didn’t say anything about it so I decided not to worry, turning back to talk to Mumbo before I got interrupted by a sharp whistle. Apparently X had some announcements, standard procedure for a new season really, so I only half listened while looking around the room. Grian caught my eye when he started rubbing his bottom with a pained look on his face and I nudged Mumbo to make sure I saw correctly. We shared concerned looks for our friend before tuning back into the lecture, which was just wrapping up.

Accepting the new rulebook from X -I would read it later- I headed out, following the red jumper I could only just make out in the distance. Grian could move _fast_ when he wanted to, I thought to myself just as Stress came up beside me. We talked about our starting spawns for a while, with hers sounding a lot nicer than mine, as we followed Grian. After walking for about 5 minutes Mumbo joined us, telling all about his spawn and the fox that had been ‘incredibly mean’ to him. It still sounded like a better option than my swamp, but I hadn’t experienced it so couldn’t be certain.

Grian had stopped for now and we were slowly gaining on him, knowing he should be able to hear our conversation so we didn’t startle him. Another minute or so of walking and we had caught up to where he was making his starter base, a little campground from the looks of it. I noticed that he was actually the shortest of us four, being one pixel shorter than me, 3 pixels shorter than Mumbo and 6 pixels shorter than Stress. I greeted him happily, followed by the other two, but only got a short ‘hey’ in return, something that concerned me because normally Grian would not stop talking. Me, Mumbo and Stress looked at each other worriedly, before I went to ask some questions so he would hopefully open up.

3RD PERSON P.O.V.

Grian stiffened as he felt a hand land on his back, couldn’t they understand he wanted to be alone to sulk in silence for a bit? Apparently not, because next thing he knew Iskall was bothering him with questions while Stress had also moved forward to turn him around. He resisted a bit, glaring at his friends who wouldn’t just leave him be. Stress frowned, not really happy with the attitude he was giving off. It looked more and more likely that she would have to get him to take a nap before he could be rational.

‘’Can’t you guys just leave me alone? I don’t wanna talk about my spawn, it was boring anyway.’’ Grian snapped. Iskall and Mumbo took a step back, tearing up a bit. Why was their friend being so mean when they all just wanted to help? Stress on the other hand took a step forward, sinking to one knee and taking both of Grian’s wrists in one hand. ‘’Hey little birdie, can you tell mama why you’re being so grumpy? We’re all very worried about you and I know something has happened, but I can’t help if I don’t know what’s going on, okay?’’ She said softly, watching as he teared up. Definitely a nap in the near future, for all three of them she amended, watching their teary faces.

Grian sniffled, bottom lip sticking out in a frankly adorable pout. ‘’pwomise you won’t tell ‘suma? He’ll be weally mad.’’ She nodded, so he had done something he wasn’t supposed to. Not that surprising, considering who they were talking about. The change in speech was kind of unexpected, he was apparently deep in headspace at the moment. ‘’Otay, I was in the _weally_ big mountains, all the way up. I wanted down, so I jump an’ fall. Then I twy to fly but my wings do owwie. They vewy small now!’’ He nods vigorously to emphasize the point, the aforementioned wings popping out in his excitement. He doesn’t seem to notice, continuing on with his story as the wings start to droop down sadly.

‘’So I falled and I was scawed but then I was fwoating with magic! Kiwan was helping me fwoat! He wooked vewy mad, ‘cuz I hadn’t checked my wings befowe fwying. He wanted to _spank_ me,’’ here Grian leans in, whispering even as his feathers fluff up with agitation, ‘’but I runned away so he couldn’t! Kiwan is weally big though, so he catched me weally quick and then he gived me _thwee_ whacks! _And_ I had to stand in the cowner for _five whole minutes!_ ’’ with a solemn nod he ends his story. Iskall and Mumbo look very sympathetic at his plight and Stress is trying to keep a straight face at how serious the three appear, sitting in a circle around her.

It seemed like the act of telling his harrowing tale had completely wiped out Grian, who was now yawning widely with half closed eyes. Looking around the others didn’t look much better. Mumbo was about two seconds away from falling asleep on Iskall’s shoulder, his thumb hanging loosely in his mouth. Iskall wasn’t much better, rubbing in his eyes with both hands to try and keep awake. Stress herded the three of them inside the tent Grian had put up with a few stumbles and complains, but overall it didn’t take long before all three were snoring softly in each other’s embrace. Deciding to hit the hay herself, Stress quickly made a bed out of some wool in the chests and was asleep not long after.

The next morning all four people wake up refreshed and out of headspace. There’s a message on the comms that Cub has a wool farm for any hermits wanting to buy wool for new clothes, which they decide to visit together. While there, Stress sneakily picks out some extra wool without the men noticing, crafting the new items and keeping them in her inventory for later. After they’re all satisfied at the wool shop they head their separate ways, Though Stress does ask them all to meet up at her new base tonight, which the men agree to easily.

Iskall heads off to the north, plans for his future base already unfolding in his brain. He’ll be using a lot of dirt and stone this season, especially if he wants to reach build height. It’s probably best if he starts small however, his starter base does need to fit the theme of course, but nowhere near as grant as his final plan. Finally reaching the biome he’d been searching for Iskall sets foot on the soft sand, looking out over the coral reef that would become a massive part of his floating island waterfall.

Mumbo goes to the west, looking for a plains biome to settle down in. The space isn’t the main reason, it’s more about the nostalgia element that the original biome brings with it. He had become slightly burned out playing hermitcraft for so long and decided to go back to the basics to reinvigorate himself. No giant bases this season, he would only make simple villager huts for his needs, linking them all together like vanilla villages. In the end he would still have quite a big base, but it would be a lot more manageable than his mumball or the spanners had been.

Grian stays where he had started his starter base, continuing in the camping theme for now. He’s decided to work on improving his building skills in regards to natural builds. Sure he can build a wicked house or other structure, but something like Scar’s magical village was completely foreign to him. Really focussing on the little details, trying to make his base integrated with the terrain instead of just plopped on top would be his goal for this season. He didn’t have a concrete plan for what his base would look like yet, but it would come to him soon enough.

Stress heads back to her flower field, which is fairly close to spawn. Though perhaps a bit stereotypical she had decided to make her base a castle on a cloud, with a rainbow bridge as the way up. It would be a pain getting all the concrete needed for her build and building high up came with a lot of challenges in and of itself, but she was very excited to get started. For now though, she would begin with a pot of gold as her starter base and work her way up to the cloud cover. Time seems to fly by and before she knows it the boys are standing at the bottom of her scaffolding.

‘’Hey Stress we’re here, you said you had something to show us?’’ Iskall called up. Stress climbed down carefully, heading to her enderchest where she had stored their presents. _‘They really need to be little for this to work out’_ she thought to herself, turning with the packages behind her back. ‘’Boys, do you think you could age down for me for a bit? The presents are for your little sides and I want to make sure they get to the right recipients.’’ She winked. Iskall, Grian and Mumbo looked at each other with a shrug, concentrating on the new feeling in their heads. A bit later there stood three little boys instead of the three men they used to be.

‘’watcha got Stress? Are they prezzies?’’ Iskall gasps excitedly. ‘’Are they prezzies for _us_?!’’ Stress chuckles at the excited glimmer in all of their eyes, nodding her head in answer. She hands out the packages one by one, an orange striped bundle for Mumbo, a green one for Grian and lastly a black and white bundle for Iskall. The boys excitedly tear the ribbon, unfolding the things wrapped inside. ‘The things’ turn out to be onesies! A ginger cat, a parakeet and a panda bear to be precise. They’re immediately begging to put them on, which Stress allows with a fond smile and a bit of help where needed.

After they’re all wearing their onesies it’s just about time to go to sleep. There’s a bit of protesting when it becomes clear Stress expects them to sleep in her base, but after a hard day of base building and exploring the boys aren’t too vehement with their complaints. Before they can truly go to sleep though, Grian pounces on Mumbo’s back in a surprise hug, sending both boys tumbling to the floor. Iskall heads over to help them up, trying to lift Grian by the armpits which doesn’t really work with his mittened hands. The image is so cute that Stress quickly takes a picture before putting all three to bed and then heading there herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again. I need some input from y'all, would you prefer it if the next few chapters just skip past the 'beginning scenes' to dive right in to it or should I keep to the same format of 'wake up, realization, teleport, rules, shared bit'? I'm really scared it's getting tedious to read lol. also, how was the little talk? I'm not sure if I overdid it or if it was fine.  
> thanks for the kudos, bookmarks and comments, stay safe and see you this wednesday <3.


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